


Separated

by StevWritesStuff



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Death, M/M, Physical Abuse, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-10-06 04:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20500661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevWritesStuff/pseuds/StevWritesStuff
Summary: Roman and Remus are brothers in an orphanage. Nobody ever adopts them because they refuse to leave without each other. One day a couple comes to the orphanage and decide they want Remus. Both brothers argue against this and do everything in their power to stay together, but their efforts are futile. The couple takes Remus and Roman is left all alone. Roman spends all of his time searching for his brother, to no avail.





	1. You Promised...

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Sanders Sides AU so please bear with me. There will be mentions of abuse throughout this story so be warned! Also there is mention of death in this chapter.

_“Roman! I don’t wanna be in the ambulance! I wanna be with Mom and Dad and you!” A small five-year old cried out in a raspy voice, struggling against the bonds holding down to a stretcher. He had a coughing fit every few minutes but had otherwise escaped the fire relatively unharmed._

_“It’ll be okay Remus! We’ll be together again, I promise!” A seven-year old called back in an even raspier voice. He had bad burns on his arms from trying to keep his little brother safe from the fire. He had also inhaled so much smoke that those ten little words took all of his effort and he lapsed into a coughing fit that left him shaky and weak._

_Their parents hadn’t been seen since they’d run back into the apartment to save the elderly couple that lived next door. Burning pieces of timber had fallen down and blocked the door before any of them could get out._

_Now they were being taken to the hospital in separate ambulances. Remus had calmed down a little after his brother’s promise, but was still causing enough of a ruckus that they put him to sleep._

_It had been a few days at the hospital, and both brothers had been informed that their parents were indeed dead. Remus was well enough to go to the orphanage after simply a day of treatment, but the boy refused to leave unless he had his big brother with him. _

_Finally, Roman was well enough to leave the hospital. He still had bandages wrapped around his arms, but as long as they were changed every few days, it would be fine. Both brothers were saddened by the news of their parents deaths and didn’t want to go to the orphanage, but they knew they had to._

_After about a month, Roman started trying to adjust and managed to make friends with some of his his peers while Remus mostly kept to himself. He always stayed close to Roman but didn't talk to most of the other kids. That was fine with them, for he was widely considered strange and said and did some weird things._

_Over the next few years, many things changed at the orphanage. Some kids left or were adopted, new kids came in. But the brothers always stayed. Most couples didn't want Remus as he was too much of a "troublemaker", but Roman refused to leave without him._

***After 5 years at the orphanage***

Remus was drawing while Roman sat nearby, talking to some of the older kids. The conversation was going fine and the fourteen year olds didn't mind the younger twelve year old talking to them.

"Dude, your brother is, like, really weird." One of them said. Roman's smile dropped immediately, and he began to look uncomfortable.

"Yeah, he never talks to any of us, but we've heard the weird things he says to you. What kind of ten year old just randomly says stuff like 'The assassin bug, Acanthaspis petax, wears the corpses of ants to confuse predators'? That's not even one of the weirder things! Seriously, what's his deal with weird animal facts?" Another guy added on. Roman chuckled nervously, glancing over at Remus, who was clearly listening in and had stopped drawing. He then made a stupid decision that he would regret for the rest of his life.

"I mean, yeah he can be a bit weird sometimes." Roman said, weakly smiling, wanting the older boys to like him. Before any of them could say more, they heard Remus let out a sob and the boy ran past them out of the room. Roman stood up to run after him, but two of the older boys held him back.

"Remus! Wait!" He called after his brother, already regretting what he'd said. "Let me go!" He yelled at the older boys, struggling against their grip. Meanwhile, Remus was blindly running through the halls.

***flashback to two years ago***

_"Hey Remus, how were classes today?" Roman asked his younger brother, falling in step next to him as they walked from the classrooms to their shared boys' dorm._

_"Boring as ever. I wish we had the same class, it'd be so much more interesting if you were there." Remus groaned._

_"Yeah, I wish I was in your class too. But remember, I'll always be here for you, no matter what! We'll always be together, I promise." Roman smiled down at his brother._

***flashback end***

_That was a lie, wasn't it Roman? You know that the other kids bully me, yet you almost never stop them. You don't actually love me, you just keep me around because you think you have to! _Remus' thoughts swirled as he ran.

He suddenly ran into something, falling down onto the floor. He immediately yelled and shrank back, looking up at what he'd bumped into.

It was a man and a woman, both seemingly in their late twenties/early thirties. One of the older adoption workers was with them.

"Remus!" The worker growled, "what are you doing running in the halls? You know that's not allowed!" The man wasn't very fond of the boy, and all that kept him from hitting him over the head was the couple he was with.

"I-I just-" Remus started.

"Oh leave the poor child alone!" The woman exclaimed. "He's obviously been crying. Hey now, don't cry, it's alright, what happened?"

Remus didn't answer, he merely looked at the ground and let more tears fall out of his eyes. _Roman hasn't come after me... he always comes after me._

"That's alright, you don't have to tell us right now. We were actually looking to adopt a boy like you, how would you like that?" Remus looked up in shock. _Nobody ever wants to adopt me. I can't go without Roman... but Roman clearly doesn't want me around anyway._

The woman helped him up as the adoption worker stared at her. He didn't like Remus at all, and a grin was forming as he realized what him getting adopted meant.

Remus was half dragged to the office, still unsure of whether or not he wanted to leave. Every so often he would look over his shoulder, seeing if Roman was there, but he wasn't. They reached the office and the couple went with the man into another room to sign paperwork and stuff.

During all of this Roman had finally managed to break the hold of the older boys and was racing down the hallways, yelling his brother's name. A couple of girls heard his yelling and had joined in with helping, as they were quite fond of Remus.

"Remus! REMUS!!" Romans' voice was becoming hoarse and his throat was closing up at the thought of his brother never coming back. It had been twenty minutes, and there was no trace of his brother. He slid down the wall, crying, feeling terrible about what he'd said. _Why on earth did I say that? I knew he was there and listening. I just wanted the older guys to like me... fat lot of good that did._

"Roman?" One of the girls who was helping approached him.

"Oh, Valerie. Yeah, I'm fine." He shakily smiled up at her, wiping tears from his face.

"Come on then, he can't have gone very far. We've still got more places to look!" She said, helping him up.

"I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day." Another voice, one belonging to an older man, said. Roman spun in the direction to see the young couple with Remus, who by this point had decided that maybe it was a good idea to go, walking out of the office.

"REMUS!" Roman tried to shout, but his constant yelling made it sound more like a whisper. Remus turned around, one last time to see his brother shaking, standing stock still, tears flowing down his face. His made up mind decided it wasn't really made up and he began struggling against the woman holding his hand.

Valerie finally jumped into action and pushed Roman forward, snapping him out of the strange trance he had been in. They both ran towards the couple, who were starting to forcefully drag Remus out the door.

"HEY! You can't do that! You can't take my brother!" Roman once again tried to tell, still not managing above a whisper. He got to them and tried to grab Remus' other arm, but the man swatted his hand aside and pushed him to the ground. Valerie tried to run around him, but he stopped her too. Before either of them could react, the adoption worker grabbed them by their arms and yelled at them before dragging them back towards the dorms. After ten minutes, the rest of the girls got back, and there was no hope of finding Remus.

"They- they took him." Roman said, voice cracking. "They took my little brother. He was struggling, but they took him anyway."

All the girls looked down, not quite knowing what to do. They had experienced their friends getting adopted, but nobody in the orphanage had ever had experience with losing a sibling, since most of them didn't have any living relatives in the first place. Before anyone could say a word, Roman pushed past them into the boys' dorm.

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" He yelled, more tears streaming down his face. "ARE YOU HAPPY THAT MY LITTLE BROTHER IS GONE?" The older boys looked up at him in shock. One of them started to say something, but Roman just stalked over to his bed and sat, head in his hands, crying.

Meanwhile, Remus was sitting in the car screaming. "We have to go back! My brother is there!"

"But you said in the office that your brother was the reason you were crying. If he made you cry, then why would you want to be around him?" The woman, Rachel, asked.

"B-but he didn't m-mean it!" Remus said, questioning himself.

"Don't worry about him darling, a good brother wouldn't make his sibling cry. Don't worry, Joe and I will take care of you now." She said it with a smile, but Remus was already starting to see cracks in her facade of sweetness.

_Roman promised we'd always be together. Roman always took care of me and made sure I was okay if any of the mean kids beat me up. Roman is my only living relative. He was my only reminder that I'm not alone... he was the only reminder I had of Mom and Dad. He promised we'd always be together... he promised..._


	2. Adopted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finally gets adopted while Remus and his friends cause trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place roughly two years after the first one, so Roman's 14 and Remus is 12. Also, this takes place towards the end of summer. Also also, there’s Logicality and Remile in this chapter

Roman sat in the office, excited and nervous all at the same time. Today was the day. He was finally getting adopted. It had been a hard year adjusting to his rambunctious little brother not running around, and not having random animal facts spouted out at him at infrequent intervals. Valerie had gotten adopted a few months after that day, so Roman had retreated into his shell, becoming much less outgoing and confident. The older boys had all apologized, save one, but Roman hadn't spoken directly to them since that day. He didn't forgive them, or himself, for what had happened to his little brother. _I know being adopted is a good thing, but he didn't want to go with them. And now... I'm finally leaving this place after seven years._

"Alright, that's all that needs to be done! You now have legal custody of Roman Prince, or I should say, Roman Picani. Have a wonderful day!" An adoption worker, this one nicer and female, waved at the two men as they left the room, Roman following close behind. These were his new dads, Emile and Remy Picani.

"Well Roman, how does it feel that you have a forever home now?" Emile asked his new son after they got in the car, beaming at him.

"It feels... I don't know... kinda weird honestly. But in a good way! I just wish my brother were here with me." The last part he said softly, staring at the ground. Remy and Emile exchanged looks, they had been told about Remus earlier that day, when they first decided that they wanted to adopt Roman. Emile turned back towards his new son.

"Oh Roman, we'll help look for your brother. The orphanage gave us the address of the couple, but they've moved since then. But that won't stop us from doing everything we can to find him, okay?" Roman smiled up at his new dad.

"Yeah. That's great. Even if he does like his life, I want to find him and see him at least once more. I still feel awful about the day." Roman said. Both dads smiled and the three drove off to their house.

*** * ***

Remus sat on the couch, though you wouldn't know it was him if I hadn't told you. He was much skinnier and taller, dressed in almost all black with a few patches of green. Most importantly though, he wasn't reading weird animal facts, or drawing, or even listening to music. He was just sitting there, staring at the wall.

"Remus!" His "mother" yelled. "What are you doing staring at the wall? Do something useful and clean your room or something!"

"I'm just thinking _Rachel_." he spat out her real name like it tasted bad.

"You aren't thinking about your brother are you? You know he didn't love you! If he had, he would've tried harder to keep you there, and he wouldn't have made you cry that day!" She yelled back at him. These fights were common in their household. After the first few weeks of being gentle about how they talked about Roman, they gave up and started planting seeds of doubt about how good of a brother he really was.

The first few months, Remus had retaliated, but now he saw no point. He had had those words repeated and beat into him so many times that he almost really believed them at this point.

"Remus! Your friends are here!" Joe Duke called up the stairs at his son. Remus shot his "mom" an angry look before walking down the stairs and to the front door. When he got there, he saw a boy with pastel purple bangs and another with heterochromatic eyes.

"Hey Virgil, Dee." He said to the brothers at his door. They nodded in return and the three of them left the house without a second glance.

"So, where we going today?" Virgil asked, turning to Dee, who was the oldest by a year.

"I was thinking we could visit a certain Thomas Sanders and see what he's up to." Dee said with a malicious smile forming on his face.

All three walked down the familiar path to the park, and, like always, found Thomas, who never learned to avoid the place. The moment they got there, he looked up, clearly scared by the three other boys.

"Hey buddy~" Dee said, getting closer to Thomas.

"Come on guys... you don't have to do this. Why do you feel the need to torment me?" Thomas said, nervously inching away.

"Because it's fun." Dee said simply before grabbing Thomas by the shoulders and kneeing him in the stomach. The boy doubled over, clutching his middle. Remus moved to give him a punch, fueled by anger from the argument with his "mom". Before it could land, however, someone grabbed his arm.

"Hey! It's not nice to beat other people up!" A boy who looked a littler older than them with glasses said. Despite his slightly pudgy appearance, his grip was very strong. Another boy, this one taller and slimmer, stood just behind him, arms crossed.

"And why does it matter to you two what we do?" Dee hissed, angrily looking at the boys. Virgil had pulled up his hood and was staring at the ground, so his expression was unreadable.

"It matters to us because it's wrong." The taller boy said simply, adjusting his glasses.

"Oh please, how are two nerds like you gonna stop us?" Remus said, throwing a punch with his free hand, this time landing it square on the boy holding him's nose. He stumbled back, letting go of Remus’ arm to pinch his nose, trying to stop the bleeding that had started. Before anyone could react, Remus was on the ground, stunned from being kicked from behind.

"I did not want this to get physical," The taller boy said, "but since you hurt Patton that changed."Remus and Dee squared up to fight the tall boy, while Virgil looked back at where Thomas was.

Virgil's eyes widened when he saw that he was still there and hadn't taken the opportunity to run away. He glanced back at his brother and friend before urgently shooing Thomas away. The boy looked confused at first, but quickly got the message and left.

"Logan! I'm fine, you don't have to fight on my behalf!" Patton said, still pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hey guys? Thomas is gone, there's no point." Virgil said nonchalantly, pretending to be unfazed and having nothing to do with this.

"What!?" Dee yelled, whirling around to his younger brother. "You should've been watching him!"

"Well gee, sorry that I got distracted by two dweebs in glasses about to beat you up." He said sarcastically, shrugging. Dee looked ready to strangle his younger brother and could barely contain his anger.

"Virgil," he said, too calmly and through gritted teeth, "we're going home."

Logan and Patton, neither of whom had seen Virgil shoo Thomas away, looked on in shock as the younger brother just shrugged and started walking away, dropping his phone as he did so. Both Remus and Dee were too upset with him to notice and merely followed him angrily.

"Do you understand anything that just happened?" Patton asked Logan, his nosebleed had becoming less intense.

"For once, I have no idea." Logan replied before starting to fish in his pocket for a tissue. As he did so, Thomas nervously walked back into the park, glancing around to make sure they were actually gone.

"Hey, um, thanks for doing that." He said, nervously shuffling his feet and staring at the ground.

"Of course! Anyti-" Patton started, cutting himself off when he saw Virgil start coming back towards them. Both Logan and Patton pushed Thomas behind them, preparing for another fight.

"Oh," Virgil said when he saw how they were standing, "yeah, they're jerks, and I'm really no better 'cause I let 'em do it. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay, that's why I dropped my phone earlier." He looked down at the ground, pulled up his hood, and started retreating the way he'd come. Logan, Patton, and Thomas just stared at him, unmoving.

"Um, th-thanks for l-letting me go earlier." Thomas said, peeking out from behind Patton. Virgil stopped. He didn't turn around, but a small smile formed on his face and he walked a little more upright.

"Well, I guess that's that then. Are you okay?" Patton turned to ask Thomas.

"Yeah, my stomach hurts, but otherwise I'm fine." He smiled up at them.

"Well that's good. I am Logan and this is Patton by the way." Logan said.

"Oh, I'm Thomas! Thanks again! I've gotta go home now." Thomas said before walking away, waving.

"Bye Thomas! You're welcome!" Patton called after him, waving over-excitedly. After Thomas disappeared, he turned to Logan, grabbing his hand as they continued their walk through the park that had originally started as a date.

"Goodness, this has been quite an eventful date. I just wanted to spend some calm time with you before school started." Logan said, sighing.

"Yeah, but at least we're still together Logie!" Patton said before booping his boyfriend on the nose.

* * *

"Here's your room Roman. Obviously it's a little bare right now, but we'll fix that before school starts!" Emile said to his new son, ruffling his hair.

"Yep. And I'll make sure you get the best coffee in the mornings so you're not tired all day, like I say 'more espresso, less depresso.'" Remy added. Emile swatted him on the arm lightly.

"Thanks Dad, Pops. This is all still kinda weird, but I'll get used to it." Roman said, smiling softly at his dads.

"We're gonna need some getting used to too kiddo, but we'll figure it out together." Emile said before both him and Remy left the room, saying good night to their son.


	3. Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman has his first day of high school and makes some friends. Remus starts seventh grade and makes some awful plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is homophobia and bullying in this chapter, just a warning.

A few weeks had passed since Roman got adopted, and the family had finally started getting used to being, well, a family. Emile had introduced Roman to Disney, which he adored, and Remy had gotten him to drink coffee, which he liked less, but still enjoyed. High school started today for him, and he was honestly excited at the prospect. He had carefully chosen his outfit, a white shirt that said Disney in red letters, a jacket that was mostly red with white sleeves and a few gold accents, and jeans.

"Alright Roman, just remember that everything will be okay, alright? Your dad and I will use today as an opportunity to search online for your brother. Hopefully we'll find some leads. He's 12 right? That's old enough to have social media. Anyway, don't worry about that right now, go off and enjoy school!" Emile said to his son, hugging him tight before sending him out the door.

"Bye Pops! Bye Dad! Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Roman said excitedly before practically racing off on his way to school. His high spirits kept up all the way there, but then there was the issue of actually going inside. He stopped right outside the front of the school, almost too nervous to take another step.

_I've never been to a real school before. What if I'm behind because the orphanage didn't teach the right things? What if nobody likes me because I'm new? How does a normal school even work?_ Roman stood and thought for what felt like hours, but was really only a minute, before finally plucking up the courage to step inside the building. He was supposed to head to the office because someone was going to help him with getting to all his classes. The moment he got into the office, most of his doubts vanished. There was another kid in there already, chatting with the secretary and wearing a huge grin on his face.

"Oh! You must be Roman, correct?" The secretary asked, seeing him come in.

"Oh, um, yeah." Roman said, shuffling his feet a little bit.

"Oh good! Hi, I'm Patton, I'll be helping you out today!" Patton smiled, holding out his hand for a shake, a big goofy smile on his face

"Hi. Thanks for doing this, I'm kinda new to this whole school thing." Roman said, taking the hand in front of him and shaking it.

"Well you two seem like you'll be okay. You both have the same schedules, so as long as you stay with Patton, Roman, you'll get to the right place. Alright, that's all I needed from you two, now you can go to the cafeteria to wait for the bell." The secretary said, waving the boys out of her office.

"Alright, I promise I'll make sure you get to your classes on time Roman! I'm a freshman, but I've got friends who are sophomores and juniors so I know my way around this school a little bit." Patton said, skipping along on the way to the cafeteria. Roman couldn't help but smile at the boy, he just radiated positive energy. They reached their destination quickly and sat at one of the tables.

"Alright, cool. Yeah. It's good to know that I'll have a good friend with me when I'm struggling." Roman said, the last little bits of nervousness evaporating into thin air.

"We're friends?!" Patton asked, stars dancing in his eyes.

"I mean yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Roman shrugged, an awkward smile on his face.

"Great! Another friend! I can't wait for you to meet-"

"Meet who Patton? And who is this?" Another boy, also wearing glasses, interrupted, sitting down opposite Roman and Patton.

"Oh! Logie! I was gonna say you! This is Roman, he's new to school and I'm gonna be helping him out today. Roman, this is Logie! He's a sophomore, but we've been good friends for a while." Patton said, somehow smiling even wider now that Logan had appeared.

"Well, pleasure to make your acquaintance Roman, I am Logan." Logan said, adjusting his glasses and looking at Roman, hardly any emotion showing on his face.

"Good to meet you too Nerd" Roman said, already feeling relaxed enough to fall into his habit of playfully insulting people.

"Ah, I see you are one of _those_ people. Patton, if you'll excuse me, I do not wish to consort with people who insult me."

"No wait! Sorry, I didn't mean it like rude, I was just poking fun at how you use all those big words and have glasses." Roman said sheepishly.

"Well alright then. I would appreciate if you'd refrain from doing that." Logan said. After a few minutes the three were talking like they'd known each other their whole lives.

The school day went by, Roman following Patton to all their classes. Patton knew a lot of other people, and Roman soon found himself at the end of the day, with many new friends and hope for the future. He and Patton chatted as they exited the school when they heard voices.

"Hey, gay boy! Where's your precious little boyfriend now?" A first voice, male, said.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do without your wittle boyfwend? You gonna go cry to mommy?" Another voice, this one female, snickered.

"I would appreciate it if you would kindly stop this behavior." A third voice, this one Logan's, said.

"Oh not again..." Patton muttered under his breath as they turned a corner to see the scene unfolding. "Hey! Stop bullying him!" He yelled, running towards them. One boy, who hadn't spoken yet and looked too young to be in high school wearing a purple hoodie, looked up and fled before either Roman or Patton could notice. Two other boys were still in the bushes, not noticing that the third had left.

"Oh look, little Logie's boyfriend showed up to protect him. How cute." The girl sneered, taking a step towards Patton and punching him in the face. Roman stood for a moment not knowing what to do.

_"Hey little boy! Where's your precious big brother now?" A boy said, taunting an eight-year-old Remus._

_"Aww widdle Remus is gonna cry. What's wrong Remus? Don't know what to do without him here to protect you?" Another boy said, kicking the small, trembling boy into the wall._

_Roman stood outside the door, not knowing what to do. He wanted to go save his brother, but his feet were cemented into the floor. He stood, watching the scene unfold, not able to do anything but stand there and watch as his brother was taunted and beat up. When it finally stopped, he ran into the room, rushing over to his brother to make sure he was alright._

_"Oh my God Remus! Are you okay?" He said, frantically trying to stop the bleeding from a cut on his brother's cheek._

_"I'm okay. No help from you." He muttered the last bit under his breath. Roman didn't hear him, instead enveloping his brother in a bear hug and crying._

The memory flooded through Roman, causing tears to spring to his eyes. _I won't stand still anymore!_ He ran towards the girl, tears freely flowing down his face, and kicked her in the stomach, mirroring what the boy had done to Remus all those years ago. She fell onto the ground, landing with a crash.

"What the hell?!" The guy said, dropping down to make sure she was okay.

"I won't stand by and watch anyone else get hurt by idiots like you." Roman said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "Now leave them alone."

"Tch, fine. Three against two isn't fair anyway." The guy said, helping the girl up before walking away. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Roman melted to the ground, the silent tears turning into sobs that racked his body.

"Roman? Are you okay? That was amazing! But what's wrong?" Patton asked, slowly approaching the sobbing boy.

"Oh, Patton, I-I'm just... I can explain another time." Roman said, wiping the tears from his face and giving a shaky smile.

"I do know we've only known each other for a day, but if you need to talk to anyone, we are here." Logan said, coming up next to Patton.

"I-it's a lot to explain." Roman said, getting up.

"We've got time, Roman. If you want we can come to your house and you can explain there." Patton said. Roman wavered for a second before slowly nodding and motioning for the two to follow him.

"Oh Roman! You're home, and you've got some friends already! That's great! But what's wrong? You look like you've been crying." Emile said when they walked through the door.

"I'll explain later. Any luck today?" Roman asked.

"Unfortunately not," Emile sighed. "Nobody has a profile called Remus Duke on any social media site we checked."

"Oh." Roman said softly. "I-I'm gonna show Logan and Patton my room, okay Pops?"

"Alright kiddo, just don't cause a mess or anything." Roman nodded and started walking to his room, his two very confused and concerned friends following.

"Who's Remus Duke? Why are you looking for him?" Patton asked when they reached the room and went inside.

"Remus... is my brother." Roman said, biting his lip and staring at the floor.

"What? I thought you were an only child."

"Well, the thing is, you know I'm adopted, right? Well, Remus was at the orphanage with me. He was adopted two years before I was. I saw him struggling, he didn't want to go. It was all my fault, and I've been trying to find him with no luck so far." Roman said, the tears he'd thought he'd run out of springing back to his eyes. Patton and Logan kept asking questions and after a few hours, the whole story was out. The fire, the bullying, the animal facts, the way Roman made him cry.

"Oh, Roman, that's awful. Don't worry! Logie and I will be here to help too!" Patton said hugging his new friend. Logan also joined the hug, despite pretending to be against it.

"Thanks guys."

*******

Remus also started school that day. Instead of high school however, it was his first day of seventh grade. His outfit was similar to what he always wore, a plain black shirt, a black hoodie with a few dark green accents, and black jeans.

He walked out the door without saying a word to either of his parents. That was fine with all of them. The walk to school was uneventful, but an unwelcome thought wormed its way into his head. _If Roman got adopted, he'd be starting high school right now._ He shook his head to get rid of the thought.

_No, I can't think about him. He was a bad brother to me at the orphanage. Never stopped my bullies, pretended not to notice when they teased me, he's the whole reason I left in the first place. God I just need to forget about him._

He got inside the cafeteria and sat on the stage where Virgil and Dee already were.

"Hey guys." Remus said, getting out his phone.

"Why do you even bother using that? It's not like you'll have any notifications from social media." Dee said, poking fun at the fact Remus wasn't allowed social media.

"Oh shut up Dee. There's more to life than social media." Virgil said in his signature _I don't give an f_ voice.

"You sure Virge? You're always scrolling through Tumblr looking at your weird emo stuff."

"Oh shut up, at least I'm not as bad as you Mr. I'm on Snapchat and Instagram at all times."

"Whatever you say." Dee sighed. "Anyway I really don't want to be back in this hell hole. The only good thing that comes from this is we get to be away from our parents for a few hours. They're insufferable."

"Yeah, Mom and Dad are so annoying. Always smoking or drinking. And if it's not either of those, It's yelling at us for things we didn't do and talking to guests about how awful we are." Virgil added on, rolling his eyes.

"At least your parents acknowledge your existence. Half the time mine forget I'm there and the other half they're screaming at me about how my brother was a 'bad person' and how I should be 'so grateful they got me out of the orphanage'. It wasn't even that bad of a place! Better than being with my two lunatic 'parents'." Remus scoffed.

"Whatever, I'm still annoyed at those two high schoolers interrupting us a few weeks ago. What do you say we stir up a little trouble with them after school? I know a couple kids who know them and would jump at the opportunity to make them suffer a bit. Of course we couldn't do it ourselves, but they would. We could just watch the chaos unfold." Dee said, his expression changing to one of malice.

"I'd love to." Remus said.

"I'll come too I guess." Virgil said. Both Remus and Dee started talking about how they wanted to see Logan and Patton get beat up, while Virgil put on his headphones and listened to music, trying not to let his anxiousness show.

He didn't like what Remus and Dee did. The only reason he tagged along was because he knew it would've turned on him if he didn't. Dee was his brother, and if he stopped going along on their awful escapades, home life would get even worse than it already was. He used to find it funny, taunting and beating, but as he grew older, he stopped enjoying it, instead only coming to watch and, if possible, make sure the victim was okay.

"Alright, it's a plan then, after school, we get to the high school." Dee said, just as the bell rang for first period. The other two nodded and they parted ways. 


	4. Reminiscing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman digs up an old book, Remus is.. well you’ll see, and Virgil finally stands up for himself(kinda)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the longest so far! Thanks for all your kind feedback, it’s really helped motivate me to write. I know it’s kinda dumb, but every time I get a new comment, a huge dopey grin just spreads across my face and I’m really happy you like this story! <3 love you all!

"Hey Ro, how are you doing with school?" Remy asked his son after he got home on Friday. He had been going for a week now, and was slowly getting adjusted to it all. They hadn't had any major projects or homework assignments yet, but the switch from being homeschooled at the orphanage to going to a normal school was still a little jarring. He was just glad that Patton and Logan were there to help him out when he got confused.

"Good. I'm still getting used to it though. Did you know that this school puts on a musical every year? I've never been in one, but I think I've seen one before, just not since-" Roman cut himself off, biting his lip. "Um, yeah, anyway I might audition, mainly because Patton keeps telling me I should. I'm gonna go to my room now." He quickly left the room to run upstairs and flip on his bed.

_I haven't seen a musical since Mom and Dad we're alive. I still remember it, and it was just before the fire. It's one of the last memories I had with them... No!_ He shook his head, _I've got new parents now. But still, Remus used to always ask about them. What they were like, what they did with us, all of that. He didn't have many memories of them because he was so young when it happened._

The familiar sting of tears came to his eyes, but he swallowed harshly and kept them from spilling out. Then he remembered the book. It was one of the only things that had been saved from the fire, its cover slightly singed, but otherwise still intact. It was chock full of animal facts, normal and weird. It was why Remus used to be so obsessed with all those random interesting facts. It was one of the few things he remembered about his parents- that they loved animals and had always dreamed of being zoologists.

They were never able to, but that didn't stop them from obsessing over random tidbits and always dreaming of the day they could own a pet. Roman vaulted off his bed and dig through his closet to find it. When he found it he plopped onto the floor and started thumbing through the well-worn pages. _Remus should have this book._ He thought, this time letting his tears freely fall to the floor.

He missed his brother so much. It was like there was an empty hole in his heart where Remus had been. Emile and Remy had been doing everything they could to try to find him with no luck. Searching through every social media site to see if there was a "Remus Duke" anywhere, calling the number that the orphanage had for the couple who'd adopted him too many times to count, asking around everywhere they could to see if anyone knew a kid with his name. It was like Remus didn't exist anymore.

"Hey kiddo, how are you?" Emile asked, quietly walking into Roman's room and crouching down next to him. He saw the book and immediately realized what was going on in Roman's head. "Hey, it's okay. We'll find him one day. How about for right now we watch a movie? Your dad is already getting popcorn ready."

"Thanks Pops," Roman sniffed, "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Emile smiled and nodded before leaving the room, gently closing the door after him. Roman wiped his tears on his sleeve and put the book away before going downstairs.

The movie they were watching was Moana. When Emile had learned that Roman had never seen a Disney movie, he had started by going through the princess movies, watching three a week, occasionally throwing in an extra Disney classic. Roman had gotten hooked on it immediately, and though he was a bit embarrassed to admit that he loved watching princess movies as a fourteen-year-old boy, he loved the prince characters and would act as if he was one when alone in his room. The past week had been busy with school starting and the family figuring out schedules, but tonight they were finally getting to the last official Disney princess movie that wasn't a remake.

As the movie went on, Roman sat transfixed by the animation playing out before him. Another thing he'd enjoyed about the princess movies is how they'd slowly progressed so the princesses became more and more self-reliant and didn't need a male role to help them solve their issues. Aladdin was still his favorite though because he felt like Aladdin's story was similar(in a way) to his. Went from a dirty street rat(orphan) to a prince(having a family). Plus, he really liked the songs.

Moana was another good one in his book, but let's be fair, he thinks that all Disney movies are good ones. The movie finished and Ro sat there for a few seconds, his eyes sparkling and all previous sadness completely gone, before he launched into a rant about everything he had loved about the movie.

As soon as he finished, the home phone went off, and Roman ran to answer it. He didn't have his own cell yet, but his dads had planned to get one on Sunday. For now, he just used the home phone and it was either Patton and Logan or someone that knew Remus calling. Roman was hoping for the latter. He answered it to hear Patton's over-excited voice coming through.

"Hi Roman! Logan and I, well, mostly me but whatever, we were wondering if you wanted to come to the park with us tomorrow. It's something we do almost every Saturday, and it'd be cool if you came too!"

"Um, sure, that sounds good Patton. See you tomorrow?" Roman said.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow!" Patton happily said before ending the call. Roman sighed, a little disappointed about it not being about Remus, but he was still happy that he was going to hang out with friends tomorrow.

"Hey Dad, tomorrow I'm gonna head to the park with Patton and Logan, okay?" Roman said to Remy, stepping back into the living room. Remy nodded, already half asleep, still wearing his sunglasses even though they were inside. Roman smiled softly as Emile walked back into the room with a blanket and laid it over his husband before gently taking off his sunglasses. He smiled at his son and motioned for him to go to bed.

*******

Remus got home and immediately slung his backpack off onto the floor right next to the door. _Thank God it's Friday, but that means having to be in a house with **them**._ He didn't bother calling out to his "parents", and instead went straight to his room and closed the door. He laid on his bed for a while, just staring up at the ceiling, not thinking about anything, at least, until he started thinking about something. _I wish Roman were here. NO! _He shook his head to get rid of the thought, _I don't, I never want to see him again. He was a bad brother._ A smaller voice, one that didn't show up very often, softly pushed another thought into view, _was he really? They say he is, but that's not how you remember him is it?_

Remus curled up into a tight ball, covering his ears, trying to get the voices to stop. Tears had just started forming when he heard his door click open. He sat up quick as a bullet, wiping away his tears and erasing all the thoughts from his head replacing his stress with a vacant expression. Rachel had entered and was standing with her arms crossed.

"You're back." She said dryly.

"Uh-huh." Remus said, matching her tone.

"You were thinking about him again weren't you?"

"No I wasn't." Remus said, the barely audible tremble in his voice betraying him.

"You were. We've been over this Remus! You will never see him again!" As she spoke, she advanced towards the boy and slapped him across the face. Remus merely stayed silent, used to this behavior at this point. The beating only lasted a couple of minutes, but Rachel continued shouting long after it.

Then she said the worst thing she probably could have, "I don't know why I keep you! I shouldn't, considering you're a child of the devil and all you do is cause trouble!" She spat the words out at her "son", who had been silent all this time, but those words broke his patience.

"I cause trouble? **_I_** CAUSE TROUBLE?! Well maybe I wouldn't if you actually acted like a mother! You just wanted a child because- because- I DON'T KNOW! Why would you want a child if you're just going to abuse it!?" He yelled back at her as he stood, all of his pent up rage coming out in the form of tears. He was mad at himself for crying, but it couldn't be helped.

Rachel looked like she was going to retaliate for a second, but gained composure and left the room silently, leaving many unsaid words hanging in the air. Remus collapsed back into his bed and cried, sobs racking his body. When he finally regained his composure, he felt around to see if anything was hurt too badly. It felt like his left eye was swelling into a shiner, but other than that, he was fine. Once he was sure he wasn't severely injured, he reached for his phone to text Dee and Vee.

**Ree:** _hey guys, I can't come to the park tmrrw. My dumb"parents" are being f***ing annoying and not letting me leave the house._

**Dee:** _that sucks dude, see you monday_

**Vee:** _yeah, cya man_

Remus fell back onto his bed and let his eyes drift closed, not bothering to take off his school clothes or brush his teeth.

*** * ***

Roman, Patton, and Logan were sitting on a small hill underneath a tree. A red and white checkered blanket laid beneath them, and they were enjoying a little picnic.

"This is so cliche Patton." Roman said, laughing about their setup.

"I know, but it's a cute setup! Plus this blanket is really comfy to sit on." Patton said, laying back on it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Roman chuckled, also laying down.

"You two shouldn't do that, you don't know how many bugs are crawling into you hair right now." Logan said, hiding a small smile behind the book he was reading.

"Oh shut it Microsoft Nerd, you know you want to lay down too!" Roman protested, propping himself up on one arm.

"As... appealing as that sounds, I'd rather not drop this book on my nose. It's quite painful, and I do not wish to break my glasses." The conversation went on for a good hour before they heard a commotion coming from below them. Roman and Patton sat up and looked down to see two slightly younger boys arguing about something, while a third stood trembling behind them.

"Not them again." Logan sighed, exchanging a tired glance with Patton.

"Not who again? You know them?" Roman asked, confused.

"Those two arguing bully that third kid, Thomas, although normally there are three of them. Come on, let's stop them." Patton nodded and both him and Logan started down the hill, Roman quickly following.

"-done Declan!" The smaller boy was shouting. The taller looked shocked and took a step back. He then shook his head and grabbed the smaller by the arm, twisting it not enough to break, but enough to make him wince in pain.

"You can't be done Virgil! You know it'll get worse if you say that again!" The smaller boy, Virgil, was sucking harsh breaths through his teeth and glaring at Declan.

"Well guess what Declan, I am done. With you and with Remus!" Roman stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the name. _Remus... could it be him?_

Logan and Patton continued their walk, circling around the arguing boys to grab Thomas and make sure he was okay.

"Re isn't here! And my name is not Declan, it's Dee!" Dee roared, jerking Virgil's arm harshly. Roman heard a pop and Virgil's high-pitched yelp which snapped him out of his trance-like state. He ran towards the two at full speed, gritting his teeth.

"Hey! Stop it! You're hurting him!" He yelled, forcing himself between them. Dee stepped back, his expression one of pure anger.

"You..." he muttered under his breath, "alright, I'm leaving!" He said aloud as Pat and Lo joined Ro. When Dee was a good distance away, they turned to the injured Virgil, who was surprisingly still standing, albeit clutching his arm and grinding his teeth together.

"Are you okay?" Roman asked, forcing himself not to bombard the poor kid with questions about Remus.

"Yeah, I'm fine, he's... he can do much worse." Virgil looked down at his arm, trying to move it a little and wincing at the effort. His face was growing even paler than it already was, the black and purple of his hair seeming to become darker.

_There are so many things I need to ask him, but for now he needs to go to the hospital._ Logan pulled out his phone and called his mother, explaining the situation and telling her to come get them from the park immediately. Roman and Patton moved to help Virgil stay on his feet as the boy continued to grow paler and his legs more wobbly.

Logan's mom arrived, took in the situation, helped Ro and Pat get Virgil into the car, and then took off toward the hospital. The doctor said Virgil would be fine, and the break wasn't that bad, so it would only have to be in a cast for 3 months. Unfortunately, Virgil had passed out when the doctor pushed his arm back in place, and Roman was forced to sit in the waiting room, his questions swirling around his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this chapter took a little longer than usual to come out, but life happened and hopefully the length of it makes up for the long wait. Again, love you all! <3


	5. Answers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets some answers, sort of, and Virgil and Dee have some absolutely wonderful brotherly bonding(can you tell I’m being sarcastic?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of Alcohol and drunk-ness in this chapter.

Hey Roman, Logan, and Patton, had been sitting in the waiting room for what felt like days(but was really only three hours). Ro had just finished informing his parents about where they were when Virgil finally emerged, left arm in a cast. All three sprang up and ran over to the younger boy. Lo and Pat were asking questions about why that other guy, Declan, had done that, what they were arguing about, why Virgil meant when he said he was done. Roman was impatiently waiting to ask his more personal questions.

"Can you guys slow down? Geez, I need to sit down." Virgil said, pushing past all three and plopping himself in a chair. "Okay, to answer your questions, Declan is my brother. He and his other friend enjoy bullying people. I usually tagged along to make sure nobody got too hurt, but today Dee was really angry and I knew he would go to far. He started, already hitting harder than normal, so I tried to stop him, and we got into an argument."

"Okay, but why was your other friend not present?" Logan asked, speaking before Roman could.

"Something about his parents not letting him leave the house. I don't know, he isn't one to listen to them, so it was probably something else." Virgil shrugged, clearly uncomfortable about something. Logan and Patton pressed further, trying to figure out why the two enjoyed bullying, but Virgil wouldn't say more.

"The other friend's name is Remus, right?" Roman's patience had snapped he was almost yelling the question. Logan and Patton turned to look at their friend, confused at the outburst.

"How did you know-"

"I heard you say his name when you were talking to your brother," Roman interrupted, "is.. is Remus' last name Duke?"

"Yes? Why does that mat-"

"He was adopted too?!" Roman said, interrupting Virgil again, his words slurring together as his speech sped up. _Is it really him?_ Lo and Pat exchanged a look, realization dawning on them.

"Um yeah... how do you know all this?" Virgil asked, confused as to how this highschooler he’d never met knew Remus.

"Oh my god... it's really... has he ever mentioned having an older brother?"

"Not to my knowledge? He doesn't really talk about anything that happened before being adopted. Least, not to me." Virgil said, still unsure of where this conversation was going.

"I-I can't believe this. After over two years... my little brother. He's been here all along." His eyes started to fill with tears, but he didn't care. _This boy knew his brother. His little brother was still in this town._

"Your little- your little brother? Remus? What? Look, I don't want to get your hopes up buddy, but even if he is your brother, he's changed." Virgil said, realizing that he still didn't know all of their names.

"I don't care!" Roman exclaimed, his smile as wide as it could possibly be.

"Roman, please calm down. Although it appears that this Remus is very like your brother, I wouldn't get your hopes too high up." Logan said, resting a tentative hand on Roman's shoulder, but he wasn't listening. _So Roman's his name,_ Virgil thought, _how fitting. I've only known him for like, three hours, but I hope he is Remus' brother. Maybe he can help Remus go back to the way he was before Dee started hanging out with him more. Plus, his smile is cute and I don't want it to go away. Wait what?_

"Logan, this is the best lead Roman's gotten, let's just be happy for him." Patton said, his voice taking on a softer tone than was normal for him. Logan looked at him, sighed, and then nodded, removing his hand and going to fetch his mother, who was talking with the receptionist.

"Alright then. Virgil, we need at least one of your parents' signature or verbal agreement consenting to me bringing you here. I also payed for your cast and this visit, but they'll have to take care of future visits, okay?" Logan's mom said as she joined them. Virgil shifted uncomfortably.

"Alright, I'll just step outside and call them." He gave a shaky smile and left before anyone else could say something. He felt the cool night air and shivered a little, despite his oversized gray hoodie and black jeans. A light breeze caused his bangs to get in his eyes, and he brushed them back as he pulled out his phone and shakily clicking on a contact he almost never called. The phone rang three times before a voice finally answered.

"What do you want?" An annoyed woman's voice answered. _At least it sounds like she's not drunk or high._

"Hey Mom. I uh,-"

"Oh, Virgil. Where are you? We've been wondering why you didn't come home with Declan." She cut off her son. _No you haven't._

"About that, um, I fell down some stairs and broke my arm. A lady drove me to the hospital, but I need your verbal consent that she can pay and bring me home."

"Ugh, fine, just hurry up." _Thank God. _Virgil let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He went back inside and his mom gave a quick "I consent" before hanging up.

"Alright then, you're all set ma'am." The receptionist said with a smile. Logan's mom thanked her and motioned for the four boys to follow her to the car.

"Okay Virgil, what's your address? I'm sure your parents are worried about you, so I'll drive you there as fast as I can." She said, twisting around to see the small boy in the back.

"Oh um.. I'll just pull it up on Google Maps for you." He said, taking out his phone and fumbling a little to type with one hand. _My parents would barely bat an eye if I came home with a missing limb. A broken arm is nothing._

Logan's mom started driving and all four boys sat in a bit of an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Patton finally spoke.

"Hey Virgil, I just realized we never properly introduced ourselves. I'm Patton, Logan's the one up in front, and Roman is sitting to your right."

"Oh, okay. Thanks again for all this."

"It's not a problem! I have a lead on my brother! This is a great!" Roman said, still on cloud nine from news about his brother.

"Yeah. Remus... your brother." Virgil said, sinking a little lower into his seat.

"When do you think you can take me to see him? I hope soon, although after two years, a couple days aren't that bad. I hope his parents have been nice, do you know if they have?" Roman's eyes were wide and full of hope. _God damnit, why are you so cute? I can't tell him about how much they've abused Remus._

"Um, well- loOKS LIKE WE'RE HERE HAHA BYE!" Virgil said, saved from having to answer the question. Roman looked confused as the younger boy scrambled over Patton to get out of the car. He walked up the steps to the front porch and hesitated as he raised his hand to knock.

*** * ***

Dee was in his room, fuming about the earlier events of the day. _How dare he say he's done? I've been protecting him from those who would undoubtedly hurt him! Who does he think he is? I made sure nobody ever hurt him like they hurt me!_ His hand went to his face, feeling the scars that had been put there by a very drunk father trying to get rid of his differently colored eye. _He doesn't even know about how much I was beat by others for this and my heterochromia. Imagine what would happen if they saw him with his scrawny stature, purple hair, and eye shadow. Now, he'll find out what happens when I'm not there._

The boy drew his hand away, his face a mask of rage and malice. He fumed for a few more minutes before pulling out his phone to text Remus, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

He crept to his door and peaked down the hallway to see his younger brother carefully stepping inside, letting his shoulders relax after seeing nobody around. Dee tensed a little at the cast around his arm, but shook off the small bit of regret and let it be swallowed by more rage at the small boy. He let Virgil get five feet in the house before he stepped out of his room to greet him.

"You're home? Thought you would've chickened out and slept in the lot. Guess you really wanted another injury."

"Dee," Virgil said through clenched teeth, "I don't want to talk to you right now, but I have an important question."

Dee relaxed slightly at this statement. "What is it? One question and then you're dead."

"Did-" The pale boy took a deep breath, "did Remus ever mention having a brother?" His hands were tensed into fists at his side and his head tilted down with his eyes screwed shut. However, Dee did something he didn't expect. His eyes widened and his normally smug demeanor had gone down the drain, although he regained it quickly, there were still hints that he was shocked.

"Why do you ask?" His voice held the faintest trace of a tremor.

"I-I think I met him." Virgil looked up, his expression confused and concerned and anxious all at once.

"YOU MET- I mean... you met Remus' brother? You met that scumbag?" Dee said, his eyes holding a different kind of rage.

"What? Scumbag? Roman was really nice! He helped me so much with the broken arm _you gave me_!" The last part he spit out like it tasted bad.

"Roman let Remus get taken by his 'parents'! Roman caused the whole thing in the first place! Remus told me all about it!"

"Roman wouldn't have done that!" Their argument had become almost a screaming match. "Roman started f***ing crying when I told him I knew a Remus! He was so happy that he'd found his brother!"

"Well, Roman, who you apparently hold as more trustworthy than your OWN BROTHER, clearly must be more important than our friend!"

"Our friend?! Oh please, we both know Remus was _your_ friend! He obviously didn't even trust me with the information he had a brother! Oh, and my own brother was the reason I have a broken arm, so yeah, I hold Roman to be more trustworthy than you!" Dee didn't have a response, and the two stood for a few moments, breathing heavily from the shouting and matching looks of hatred on both their faces. Their staring match was interrupted by their mother stumbling into the room.

"Oh boys, I heard ye-**_hic_**\- yelling coming from here, and it gave me a-**_hic_**\- a headache. So shut up." She said, slurring her words together and hiccuping. She was very clearly intoxicated with alcohol.

"Yes mother." Both boys said in unison, they might have been at each other's throats, but they knew better than to anger either of their parents when they were like this, though their father was certainly worse. Their mother nodded with a lopsided smile and stumbled back out of the room. Vee and Dee shot each other one last hateful glance before making their way to their rooms, which were thankfully separated.

***

Remus was sitting on his bed, completely unaware of the events that transpired earlier in the day. He had been the day he had gotten adopted over and over, and had finally completely convinced himself that Roman never wanted him in the first place.

Roman was also sitting on his bed, clutching his book and crying, but now they were joyful tears. He was so happy that he would see his brother again. Little did he know it wouldn't be very soon. Nor did he know that the two's reunion would not be a happy one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again for reading this! I love reading y’all’s comments, it really makes me want to write more for you people! Love you bye!


	6. Back to Square One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets a bit discouraged and Remus gets a bit angry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: panic attack, physical aggression

Dee was sitting on the stage in the cafeteria, Virgil sitting nearby at a lunch table.

"Why is Virgil over there?" Remus asked, plopping down next to him.

"Oh right, forgot to tell you, he's 'done' with us." Dee said, shooting a sour look at his little brother.

"What? Really? When did that happen?" Remus said, shocked at the news.

"Saturday. Those idiot high-schoolers helped him."

"You mean the ones who saved Thomas that time? And the ones we got those other high-schoolers to bully?"

"Yes," Dee sighed, "there was also the new one who came to help that time." _The one who looked familiar?_ Remus thought.

"Can I go talk to him?" Remus said, starting to stand.

"No! He's a traitor to us." Dee growled, grabbing his arm and pulling him back down.

Virgil had watched the whole exchange from the corner of his eye. He had his headphones on, but no music was playing from them. I want to text Lo or Pat, but they'll try to get me to set up a time for Roman to reunite with Remus. I don't want him to see how much his brother's changed. He started fiddling with the strings on his hoodie.

Suddenly he felt someone slide onto the seat next to him and looked over in confusion to see Thomas. He gave a smile to Virgil, casting a quick glance to the cast on his arm.

"Why are you here?" Virgil asked, going back to staring at the table.

"You looked lonely." Thomas said simply, still smiling. "Thanks for what you've done for me."

"No problem." Virgil said, shrugging and turning away to hide the smile slowly spreading on his face.

Dee was still lecturing Remus, and hadn't noticed the exchange between his brother and his victim. But Remus had. He'd watched Thomas slide into the spot next to Virgil and it made him angrier at the boy than he'd been originally. In fact, much angrier than he should have been, but between his parents and all the thinking about his brother, he currently had a very short fuse and it was about to blow.

"-so it turns out that the new high-schooler is who he thinks is your scummy brother, and he gave me all this crap about how he's so nice and more trustworthy than me, like, I know I lie a lot, but trusting someone you met a few hours ago more than your brother you've lived with your whole f***ing life?" Dee was saying when Remus started listening again.

"I'm sorry, what? He said he met- he said he met Roman? And that he was nice?" Remus said, surprisingly calm at the news, at least until they properly sunk in. Then the fuse reached its end. His expression went from serene to seriously pissed in a couple seconds. Before he knew it, he was marching over to Virgil, ready to throw some punches.

As Remus approached Thomas looked up and saw him, eyes widening as he scooted back from Virgil. Virgil himself saw this and turned around to see his very angry ex-friend practically charging at him.

"Virgil! You deserve so much more than a broken arm right now!" Remus shouted, lashing out and hitting Virgil square in the nose. Virgil tried to fight back, but the cast made it hard for him and his other hand was a bit busy trying to stop the bleeding that had started in his nose. He stared up in pure fear at the tall, lanky boy, who still had hints of a shiner around his eye.

Then the worst thing that Virgil could possibly imagine happening happened. He started to have a panic attack. Remus took a step back, faltering. Virgil's breathing quickened, and his heart started racing. _This is it, I'm going to die. Here and now._ Tears started pouring down his cheeks and his thoughts didn't make any sense, the world was ending and the last thing he would ever see was Remus towering over him like some sort of monster and- then he felt a hand on his arm. He tensed and squeezed his eyes shut and at first it only worsened his condition.

"Hey, it's okay, breath in for four," Virgil did as the voice said, "hold it for seven," again, Virgil did so, "now out for eight." He did. The voice kept talking and he was eventually calm enough to open his eyes and saw an eighth grader standing there, while another was restraining Remus and talking to a teacher who had come over.

"I'm Talyn." The eighth grader in front of Virgil said softly. "I've had some experience with stuff like that."

"Th-thanks." Virgil said, still shaky from the attack.

"Not a problem." They responded before turning to their friend restraining Remus. The teacher was now lecturing him while they stood there a bit awkwardly. "Joan, I think you can let go of him now."

"Um, okay." They said, letting go of Remus' arms and coming over to join them. Remus stood there, his expression unreadable, as the teacher continued her lecture. "Hey, I'm Joan, you okay?" They asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm good now. I'm Virgil by the way." He said, digging into his bag rather awkwardly for a tissue to stop the blood still flowing from his nose. Joan, satisfied with that, turned to Thomas, who was still frozen on the bench.

"Oh- um, I'm Thomas." He said, blinking rapidly as he came back to reality. At this point Dee had finally shown up to try and talk Remus out of punishment, but the teacher was having none of his crap. She grabbed Remus by the arm and pulled him off to the principal's office. Surprisingly enough, hardly anyone else in the cafeteria batted an eye at the whole scene, although most of them were too scared of Dee and Remus to try and help.

"He's right about you deserving more than that cast," Dee hissed at Virgil, "but I don't want to end up like him, so this will have to wait." He stalked away, Virgil glaring after him.

"Okay, what the f**k is up with those two?" Joan asked turning to Virgil.

"Long story." Virgil sighed wearily. He was about to elaborate when the bell rang, signaling that they had ten minutes to get out of the cafeteria and to class.

* * *

"Hey Roman!" Patton called, waving from his seat in the cafeteria. Logan sat beside him, nose in a book as per usual.

"Hey Patton, Logan." Roman said, sliding into the spot across from them. He pulled out the new phone he'd gotten the day before. "Now that I have this, I need both of your numbers." He beamed at them, very excited that he finally had his own cell phone.

"Oh, of course!" Patton and Logan both put their numbers into the phone.

"Hey I don't suppose Virgil's contacted either of you?" Roman said, a hopeful note in his voice. Logan and Patton looked at each other and had one of their nonverbal arguments. Logan sighed and turned back to Roman, who had watched the whole exchange nervously.

"Well, no. Virgil hasn't reached out to either of us unfortunately." Logan said.

"Oh." Roman said, sinking a little lower into his seat. "That's okay I guess." He gave a small smile that was quickly replaced by a saddened expression. _I hope he's alright._ He didn't know whether he was thinking of Remus or Virgil. It was probably both if we're being honest.

"I'm sorry Roman, I'm sure he'll reach out soon. He's probably just trying to adjust to the cast. I feel so bad that he has to live with the one who gave it to him." Patton said, placing a sympathetic hand on Roman's arm.

"No matter!" Roman suddenly exclaimed, his mood drastically different than it had been a few seconds before. "I have waited this long to reunite with Remus, I can wait months, years more even, if it means I get to see him. The little white streak in his hair, his chipped front tooth, even his obsession with strange facts. I'd do anything if it meant having all that back."

_Remus, I promised myself I would find you and by Zeus I will. And once I do, I'll never let you go again._ Roman thought with a fierce determination. Patton smiled at his friend and Logan glanced up from his book to give him a small nod, which Roman now knew was his way of expressing his encouragement. The bell rang and they went to their classes, Roman pushing down his thoughts about Virgil never reaching out and pretending that everything was great.

***

The last bell of the day rang, and Virgil reluctantly packed up his stuff and left the class. His last period was ELA and he used it asa way to escape his troubles, as it was one of the few classes he had a caring teacher in. She made him feel less bad about himself when she complimented his writing and she truly cared about all her students.

He said goodbye and trudged to his locker to get his backpack. Each step felt like it took an hour, but he eventually found himself outside the school, walking home and trying to avoid Dee, who always came out a little late because he had to get his band stuff. Unfortunately for the small boy, his older brother caught up to him as he was waiting to cross the street.

Virgil had just pulled out his phone when Dee came up behind him and slapped it out of his hands. Vee jumped and quickly picked it up off the concrete before backing away from his brother.

People started crossing and Virgil pushed his way through them, trying to get away. Dee pushes after him. When Vee finally got out of the crowd, he started running, trying to check his phone but just seeing a black screen with tons of cracks. Dee caught up and grabbed his little brother's jacket.

"You know, even if you'd gotten away, we still live together. You couldn't have avoided me for long." He said. Virgil had frozen, trying to breathe. _I will not have another attack. Not today!_ He remembered Talyn's breathing exercise and did it before turning around.

"Declan. You don't scare me."

"But I should! You see that cast on your arm? I could do the same thing to the other! Or I could break your leg! I am so much stronger than you, do you really think you'll win in a fight?" Dee snarled.

"No. But I do know that somewhere in there, you do care about me. It's just hidden under tons of junk and horribleness. Remember how Remus was when we first became his friends? How sweet he was? Now look at him! Violent, cold, impulsive. Because of you. Now, also because of you, I don't have a phone, and you know full well neither of our parents will get me a new one. So thanks a lot!" Virgil had started calmly, but his voice had risen both in volume and pitch. He turned again and stalked away, leaving Dee stunned at the outburst.

_**Is** it my fault Remus is like that?_ He shook his head, _No! It's his "parents" fault._ Virgil doesn't need a phone, he can get along just fine without one. Dee repeated these thoughts as he continued walking home.

Remus had spent the whole day in ISS(In-school-suspension for those who don't know) being berated by teachers for attacking Virgil. He had sat the whole time with an annoyed look, and had tuned them all out long ago. He took the time as an opportunity to stew on his anger. He still didn't understand why he had gotten so unnecessarily angry, even if he did have a reason.

_Stupid Virgil, stupid "brother", stupid "parents", stupid life._ He chanted over and over as he walked home after finally being released. He slammed the front door open and went to his room, thankful that his parents were out at some neighborhood meeting or something. He laid there on his bed, half wishing he could go back and stay at the orphanage, half preferring living as an only child. He buried his head in a pillow and stayed there for the rest of the day.

***

A couple weeks passed with no word from Virgil. Roman was torn between worrying about the small seventh grader and being outraged at his silence.

"I'm so sorry Roman. I promise we'd come to you the second we heard anything from him." Patton assured his friend when they had some downtime in Theatre.

"I know... it's just, I was this close, this close Patton! And now I've reset back to square one." Roman said pulling his knees toward his head and covering his face with his hands.

"That's not true! At least you know he lives in town!" Patton said, a sympathetic smile on his face as he lifted Roman's chin. Roman gave a small grin in return and Patton helped him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry. Many of you(plus my IRL friend) have said something about the angst(although this is an angst book lol). Just want to clarify this book will have a happy ending, you’ll have to wait a while though ;)


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